My (hopefully final) T410 pre-purchase questions

I've been debating laptops for months, bouncing between the HP EliteBooks, Dell Latitudes and the Lenovo ThinkPads.

I've finally (for the most part) settled on a ThinkPad, although the Dell E6410 would be tempting if the price wasn't so much higher than the T410.

Most of my questions are regarding the build quality. I've read about the quality of the LCD display itself, but I think (I hope) it will be "good enough" for my needs.


1) How much does the screen assembly flex and/or give? I can't find a video of this anywhere. How well is the screen protected?

2) The bottom cover (that covers the area with a memory slot and a miniPCIe slot) appears to bow and not fit properly in a lot of videos and pictures I've seen in reviews ... can any T410 owners here post a couple of pics?

3) How much does the battery wiggle? I plan on the 6-cell battery.

4) Having never owned a ThinkPad before ... how loud is typing on the keyboard? I work in quiet environments a lot, and don't want to make a lot of noise ...

Also, I may consider a T410i with a Core i3 330m CPU to bring down the price a bit (if I can convince myself that I won't need the extra CPU horsepower from an i5) ... is the rest of the build the same? By that I mean ... is it all the same hardware, just a different CPU?

Thanks everybody, NBR has been incredibly helpful so far.

 

bump with another question ...

5) I've seen all kinds of 3dmark06 scores posted, and nothing consistent. Some reviews have used 1024x768 resolution to run the benchmark (I have no idea why), which of course increases the scores.

If possible, can somebody run 3dmark06 on a T410 for me with the STOCK 3dmark06 settings? Intel and/or nVIDIA, I want to compare the two.

 

I'll try to tackle your questions since I just got a T410 myself, but I'm afraid some of these answers are only "my opinion" and not necessarily what others would agree. Like screen quality, it's subjective.

1) I have found that the screen flexes on the right side when opening the lid, but not if you open it from the center of the screen.

2) The bottom cover on mine doesn't bow at all, but probably because I haven't taken it out. I'm leaving it alone just in case.

3) I have the 4 cell battery which sits flush with the notebook, and there is some wiggle, but very little. It might be more on a larger cell battery that sticks out.

4) This I don't know as I just use an external keyboard. My notebook is desk bound since it's my main desktop replacement system.

5) I have the 1280x800 screen, and at that resolution the review here showed a score of around 1900 in 3dmark06 (intel graphics). I may download it tonight and run it for you, but I have limited bandwidth on my mobile broadband. :\

Hope this helps!

 

Are you planning to do much 3D gaming? If so, I think you might be happier with something else. Even the discrete Nvidia option is not known to be especially powerful at 3D gaming.

 

I guess it depends on his gaming needs. From my past experiences, I would never buy nvidia again. Ever. Intel's arrandale graphics are a huge step-up from their last generation, putting it nearly on par with the nvidia 9400m, and faster than the ati 3200 IGP. It's a step in the right direction atleast, but for me personally I prefer intel for their stability. I've never, ever had a problem with intel platforms. I've always had problems with nvidia, amd, and via platforms though.

 

Thanks guys for the responses.

@talin,
I don't really need the keyboard to be ultra-silent, just at least as silent as a normal keyboard or a normal laptop. When I think of ThinkPad's, for some reason I think of the old Model M keyboards, which are insanely loud and annoying.

@Mutnat,
No, not much 3D gaming at all. I'm going to be running Arch Linux (no dual boot) with Windows 7 running in VMware. This is going to be my only computer, and mostly what I do is programming. The reason that I do ask about the graphics though, is that I have a long-standing UT2004 addiction. It's an old game, of course, so I'm assuming the Intel is up to the task.

talin, if you are able to download 3DMark06 and give it a go on its stock settings, I would be grateful, but I do appreciate the limited resources of a mobile connection. If it truly is right around 1900 points at 1280x800, I would be quite happy. The fastest video card I've ever owned was an overclocked ATI X800, and I got just barely 2000 points in 3DMark06 at 1280x1024. It ran UT2004 great for me for a number of years.

 

Never tried, but I've heard the Intel graphics should be able to handle UT2004 no problem. About the keyboard: it's not silent, but I don't think it's particularly loud? Well, maybe slightly louder than average, but I've definitely had louder external keyboards over the years. Actually in a totally quiet office it might be a bit loud.

 

My T500's NMB keyboard is definitely louder than the average laptop's, especially the spacebar. That's probably due to the mechanism of the keys, the greater-than-average key pitch, and the metal backplate. I wouldn't say it's annoyingly loud, but in a quiet classroom, it's definitely audible.

 

I would rather have a sturdy, noisy keyboard with a metal back plate than a quiet, squishy one personally.

@Mkfly; I'm downloading 3dmark06 right now. Another hour and a half to go...

Ok I just ran 3dmark06, and my system got 1904.

 

talin, thank you so much for taking the time to download that for me.

That was at 1280x800? 1904 is just fine with me, that will be plenty to run UT2004!

Glad I don't need the nVIDIA, it would have cost me more, and would have drained the battery faster.

 

1) How much does the screen assembly flex and/or give? I can't find a video of this anywhere. How well is the screen protected?

IMO, this is the weakest part of the laptop. The border around the screen seems very weak and flexible. If you apply some pressure to the back of the screen assembly, the border bows out quite a bit.

But then again, my unit was "defective" so the problem might be especially worse and isolated to my unit. (see thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=474190)

2) The bottom cover (that covers the area with a memory slot and a miniPCIe slot) appears to bow and not fit properly in a lot of videos and pictures I've seen in reviews ... can any T410 owners here post a couple of pics?

Its because the cover has two little tabs on the sides which *click* into place. Most people are too scared to push the cover in all the way since it requires some force, so the cover just ends up sticking out because the two tabs are stuck on the outside.

I can take a picture of this for you when I get home.

3) How much does the battery wiggle? I plan on the 6-cell battery.

My 9-cell (which sticks out) wiggles a little bit, a few mm I guess? But its not too annoying, and probably not even noticeable during normal use with the 6-cell since it doesnt stick out.

4) Having never owned a ThinkPad before ... how loud is typing on the keyboard? I work in quiet environments a lot, and don't want to make a lot of noise ...

I never really noticed much noise.. but then again I dont normally work in quiet environments. I can say though, that its quieter than most other keyboards I've used.


Oh and I can take a benchmark when I get home too. I've been meaning to anyway.